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Kotin I., Lemeshkina K. Drawings from the Collection of Ivan Minaeff in the MAE RAS as a Source on the History and Ethnography of Punjab in the Second Part of the 19th Century

Igor Kotin
Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0001-5751-7703
E-mail: igorkotin@mail.ru

 

Ksenia Lemeshkina
Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0002-1508-7829
E-mail: 212lexy@gmail.com

 

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ABSTRACT. The article considers drawings made in Punjab and collected by famous Russian Indologist and ethnographer Ivan Pavlovich Minaev (1840–1890). In 1875 and in 1880 Ivan Minaev visited Lahore, Amritsar and Ludhiana and collected these items, and made notes on Punjab in his diary. The authors argue that both the collections and Minaev’s remarks in his diary are important source on the history and ethnography of Punjab in the second half of the 19th century. Although his main academic interest was related to Buddhism, Ivan Minayev was lucky to be present in Punjab in the turning period of the development of Sikhism, and his notes and collections are a strong proof of this. Minaev witnessed Protestant and Catholic missionary activity in Punjab, emergence and activity of Punjabi Sikh sects, particularly of the Namdhari sect, and the revival of traditional Sikhism in the form of the Singh Sabha Movement. Minaev’s collection of drawings reflects both the period of religious syncretism and the later phase in the development of Sikhism as a monotheist religion with its own saints and heroes.

 

KEYWORDS: India, Punjab, Ivan Minaev, Sikhs, drawings

 

FOR CITATION: Kotin I., Lemeshkina K. Drawings from the Collection of Ivan Minaev in the MAE RAS as a Source on the History and Ethnography of Punjab in the Second Half of the 19th Century. Kunstkamera. 2024. 2(24): 127–139. (In Russian). doi 10.31250/2618-8619-2024-2(24)-127-139

 

DOI 10.31250/2618-8619-2024-2(24)-127-139
UDC 069.02:39

 

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